Human Rights Due Diligence
Building on İşbank Human Rights and Human Resources Policy, İşbank sets out its responsibilities and guiding principles regarding human rights and human resources practices. In line with these principles, the Bank aims to uphold the responsibilities and principles it has adopted across its employees, suppliers, customers, business partners, and all relevant stakeholders in the value chain.
The Bank endeavors to align its operations with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, known as the “Protect, Respect and Remedy" Framework. It regularly assesses the impact of its activities regarding human rights, takes necessary measures to prevent and mitigate negative impacts, and creates transparent and accessible mechanisms for affected parties to voice their grievances. In this context, risks on human rights are taken into consideration in matters such as working conditions, value chain and establishing new business relationships
Human rights risk is defined as the likelihood that an institution's operations, business relationships, or supply chain may give rise to adverse impacts on the fundamental rights and freedoms of its stakeholders.
The Bank regularly analyzes human rights risks across its operations, products and services, and supply chain. Human rights criteria are integrated into investment, credit allocation, and supplier selection processes, while monitoring and audit mechanisms are applied in high-risk areas.
As part of its human rights due diligence process, the Bank conducts separate analyses of its operations, customers, supply chain, and communities in order to better manage the potential impacts of its activities.
| Material Issues
| Mitigation &Remediation
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Own Operations*
| - Working conditions - Discrimination - Gender Equality - Unionization and collective bargaining
| - Human resources risk identification - Collective Labour Agreement - Freedom of association and collective bargaining - Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct - Gender Equality Policy - Labor Practices Commitment - HR Help Desk - Negative News Line - About Me platform - Ethics Hotline - Remuneration Policy - Occupational Health and Safety Policy - The seminars and training programs - Employee loyalty and satisfaction survey
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Customers**
| - Human Rights Violations - Customer Privacy Protection - Bribery and corruption - Money laundering and transparency
| - Customer Relations Platform and Program - ISO 9001 Quality Policy - Environment and Social Impact Policy - Environmental and Social Impact Evaluation Model(ÇESMOD) - Personal Data Protection Policy - Anti-bribery and Anti-corruption Policy - Disclosure Policy
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Supply Chain***
| - Working conditions - Child labour - Forced or compulsory labour
| - Supplier Code of Conduct - Precious Metals Responsible Supply Chain Policy - Purchasing Policy and Implementation Instructions - Procurement Platform - Sustainability Survey to suppliers
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Society
| - Natural resource management - Community investment - Financial Inclusion
| - Environment and Social Impact Policy - Donation and Contribution Principles - Environmental and Social Impact Evaluation Model - Non-financial services - Declaration on Women's Empowerment - Artificial Intelligence Ethical Principles - Corporate social responsibility projects
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- *In 2024, within the scope of employee satisfaction and engagement, a survey with a participation rate of 86% of Bank employees revealed no findings of human rights violations in relation to human rights risk.
- **In 2024, all complaints received through the Customer Relations Platform were reported to senior management, and none of the evaluated complaints resulted in any penalties due to non-compliance with customer information regulations.
- ***In 2024, within the Sustainability Survey conducted by the Purchasing Division, which achieved a participation rate of 48% among suppliers, no human rights risks were identified.
Oversight and monitoring of human rights violations within the Bank are carried out by the Board of Inspectors, which operates under the authority of the Board of Directors. In this context, preliminary reviews, examinations, and investigations are conducted regarding suspected internal cases. In addition, the management of customer complaints is audited by the Board of Inspectors; furthermore, complaints received through various channels, including the Ethics Hotline, which may involve human rights issues, are examined on a case-by-case basis. The confidentiality of the reporting process is ensured, and unless the reporting individual requests otherwise, their identity is kept anonymous, while no person is subjected to any disadvantage solely for making a notification.
The Bank aims to conduct its activities in compliance with laws, applicable regulations, and its own strategies, policies, principles, and objectives. In order to mitigate human rights risks, risk assessment and prevention processes are applied across the supply chain and credit portfolio. In cases where findings are identified through audits, improvement plans are prepared for the relevant operational areas. In the event of confirmed violations, the Bank activates and follows up on remediation mechanisms, including improvement of working conditions and process enhancements, to restore the rights of affected individuals.
In 2024, 15 complaints concerning 12 topics were received through the Ethics Hotline, mainly related to corruption and bribery, discrimination and harassment, customer privacy, and conflicts of interest. Nine were found not to constitute a violation, while three were addressed under discrimination and customer privacy. All cases were reviewed within the Bank's internal control framework and no fines or penalties were imposed on the Bank in relation to corruption or bribery cases during the year.